Major League Baseball 2013: The dilemma in the Detroit Tigers bullpen

Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Bruce Rondon is pulled by manager Jim Leyland after giving up two runs during the seventh inning of a spring training baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Lakeland, Fla.

The notification came over the wire and read just like any other transaction. It was a Thursday morning tweet from CBS Sports Danny Knobler. The Detroit Tigers option Bruce Rondon to their Triple-A affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens.

Players are sent up and down the various levels of baseball all the time. So this isn't really a big deal at all.

Except that it is.

It is because the Detroit Tigers are the defending American League Champions. It goes beyond that, though. The Tigers weren't just good last year, they're expected to be very good this year.

In fact, if you remove the closer position from the equation, the team has no obvious weakness. Maybe the lineup lacks a bit of speed, but it makes up for it by being anchored by a trio of lethal hitters in Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez.

The rotation of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello is as good as any in baseball.

Don't mistake the Tigers bullpen as weak, but they don't have a specified closer, which has become a critical role in modern baseball.

Jose Valverde had been the Tigers closer for three seasons, from 2010 through the end of 2012 he had been everything from above average, to lights-out, automatic save.

The 35-year old free agent was not re-signed by the Tigers and the team's plan was to promote the hard-throwing young Bruce Rondon to the majors and allow him to close.

Rondon had a very rocky spring and on Thursday morning the Tigers basically admitted that he wasn't ready when they optioned him to the minors.

So who closes now?

The most immediate plan is to go by a closer-by-committee. That plan almost always sounds good, but it almost never works, at least not on teams that intend to pop champagne in late October.

In recent years, World Series-winning teams have featured a variety of different closers. The 2009 Yankees had Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer of all time. The 2010 Giants had Brian Wilson, a player who had a four-year run of great performances closing games. The 2011 Cardinals used Jason Motte, who didn't emerge as the team's closer until after the All-Star break.

The one thing all the teams had in common is that someone was the designated closer. Closer by committee? That hasn't been really successful for teams in the Detroit Tigers' position.

The reality is that the season hasn't even started yet. The closer by committee probably is not the long-term plan in Detroit.

The Tigers will look for one of those four pitchers to assert themselves as the closer and claim the job outright.

Don't expect Tigers manager Jim Leyland to be too patient. Maybe Rondon is the Tigers closer of the future? Maybe he's destined for 10 seasons of dominance, or maybe one of the four pitchers the Tigers are going to allow to close out games early in the season is a closer in waiting?

Unfortunately for all involved, the Tigers aren't thinking too far in the future. They're not concerned with 2014 or 2015. The team is built to win now. That pressure could force general manager Dave Dombrowski to make a trade.

The Tigers might be going okay with a closer by committee in April, but if the team is serious about going all the way in October, establishing one man as their closer is going to eventually happen.